The wing’s chief Dr Kelvin Yii said the party had to adapt to form the government but stressed that it was not at the expense of its core principles.
“So to say we have swayed from our principles so early on is at best premature.
“The people want a functioning and competent government, that will be our focus above any personal agenda,” Yii told FMT.
He was responding to an FMT report quoting two DAP leaders who agreed with Ronnie Liu’s assessment that certain leaders had forgotten the party’s core values and risked turning it into “another MCA”.
One of the sources, a DAP assemblyman, accused the Pakatan Harapan leadership of being more sympathetic to BN’s demands than to those of its own component parties.
He also said many agreed with Tony Pua’s remarks on Umno, but were disappointed the party did not back the former Damansara MP.
At a DAP fundraising dinner last month, Pua said PH supporters must prove that “a multiracial party that is clean and not corrupt” could do better than “corrupt” coalitions and parties such as Barisan Nasional, Umno and Bersatu.
Yii said that if the two anonymous DAP leaders truly stood by their statements, they should not fear making their identities known.
“Hiding behind anonymity opens up questions on the intention of the criticisms.
“Which, very often comes up close to an election, due to certain individuals who are possibly disgruntled with hard decisions that have to be made by the top leadership, especially when it comes to the selection of candidates,” he said.
DAP Petaling Jaya Youth chief Kusaaliny Mahendran said the party’s partnership with BN had not changed the work it does, though she admitted the union had not been an easy one.
“We accept that this is a partnership that was due to the hung Parliament, and right now, Malaysia needs a capable government to navigate the political and economic development,” she told FMT.
Kusaaliny conceded that Pua’s words had resonated with her, adding that PH should, as a coalition, aim to independently form the government one day.
“However, like our secretary-general mentioned, his (Pua’s) views do not represent the party’s stand,” she said, echoing DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook who last month said that Pua’s remarks were made in his personal capacity,
“We are committed to ensuring that the unity government is stable and will deliver in the next five years, hopefully strengthening people’s trust towards us.”